One hundred and one years before the films Armegeddon and Deep Impact entered U.S. theaters, the father of modern science fiction scared the crap out of Victorian London with this, the first of such death-from-above science fiction tales. Read by Alex Wilson.

H G Wells was such a science fiction pioneer that he took all the great, archetypal titles (Think about it: The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Magic Shop, etc.. You’d think he would have at least been generous enough to call it, say, “A Magic Shop,” allowing that Asimov or Heinlein might decades later want to write about another one.) So it goes with “The Valley of the Spiders.”

Three adventurers face danger, death, and giant spiders, all for the capture love of a woman, in this classic pulp adventure story. Read by Alex Wilson.

“Science is a match that man has just got alight.” An important early essay on science and philosophy, offering insight into the unfettered mind that would a few years later belong to “The Father of Science Fiction.” Read by Alex Wilson. Not licensed in the EU.

An amateur scientist discovers that just as he may travel around in the three physical dimensions, he may also travel through the fourth–time. These are his adventures and discoveries through time. Read by James Spencer. Note: the Spoken Alexandria podcast includes only the first chapter of TM. The full book is included in the zipped download options

“There’s a slightly old-fashioned quality to his speech that compliments Wells’ old-fashioned brand of science fiction … rises above the source material, making these audio editions a great way to experience these two classics.” – John Joseph Adams, Locus

As James Patrick Kelly writes in this month’s (September 2004 issue) Asimov’s Science Fiction, “What makes this the first science fiction time travel story is that the Time Traveler actually builds his machine.” Previous fictitious time travelers (like Ebeneezer Scrooge or the Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court) didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“There’s a slightly old-fashioned quality to his speech that compliments Wells’ old-fashioned brand of science fiction … rises above the source material, making these audio editions a great way to experience these two classics.” – John Joseph Adams, Locus

“Worth buying.” – The New York Times

The classic alien invasion novel by “The Father of Science Fiction” H.G. Wells. Read by James Spencer and produced by Active Voicing. Note: the Spoken Alexandria podcast includes only the first chapter of WotW. The full book is included in the zipped download options.

“No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own…”

Every speculative fiction author sooner or later writes about a trip to a magic shop. Here’s the short story that might have started that trend by “The Father of Science Fiction” H.G. Wells. Read by Alex Wilson.

Originally for sale on March 19, 2004, and released free with a Creative Commons Attribution License five years later. See the Mission page for why.

Because of internationally diverse copyright laws, Telltale can only license/give away this audiobook in the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. The text on which this audiobook is based is still protected under copyright in the European Union and many other countries (where pre-1923 copyrights last until 70 years after the author’s death) and will remain so protected until 2017. Thank you for your confusion.

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was a British author often called "The Father of Science Fiction." Even before the 20th century began, his fiction and articles explored invisibility, interstellar travel, time travel, and genetic experimentation. His novel, The War of the Worlds was serialized in the American magazine Cosmopolitan, and later turned into a famous radio drama by Orson Wells.

Alex Wilson is a writer and actor from northern Ohio and now based in Carrboro, North Carolina. His stories and comics have appeared/will appear in Asimov's Science Fiction, The Rambler, Outlaw Territory II (Image Comics), Weird Tales, Futurismic, LCRW and elsewhere. Locus has called him a "promising new writer," and Publishers Weekly also has nice things to say. Website)

Alex has performed lead roles in the North American premiere of (Richard Taylor's musical) Whistle Down the Wind and (Emmy-nominated director Jack Lucido's film) The Third Cord. He has recently appeared in the Deep Dish Theater productions of Hedda Gabler and Moon for the Misbegotten, and recorded narrations for Escape Pod and Night Shade Books. (Acting Resume/Reel) On early Telltale recordings, Alex is sometimes credited as "Alexander Wilson." He founded Telltale in 2004.